PWRC: Patrik Flodin Wales Rally GB summary

Flodin gives Russian-flavoured first victory to the new Impreza
Swedish crew of Patrik Flodin and Goran Bergsten dominated the P-WRC
category on Wales Rally GB 2008 to bring their new weapon to victory in this
historical event. After the drama...

Flodin gives Russian-flavoured first victory to the new Impreza

Swedish crew of Patrik Flodin and Goran Bergsten dominated the P-WRC
category on Wales Rally GB 2008 to bring their new weapon to victory in this
historical event. After the drama on Sunday morning, when the Swedes all but lost
their lead, they battled back to finish more than one and a half minutes clear off
their closest rivals.

The victory became fourth for the young driver in the GroupN category, but
his first in the more prestigious P-WRC series. It was also the first World Rally
Championship event to be won behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX STi of
the latest hatchback generation. The car, built by the Russian team "Uspenskiy
Rally Tecnica", has tasted only triumphs in Flodin's hands, as victory in Wales
followed the crew's triumph on the last round of the Russian Rally Championship
back in October. Now, after the second successive masterful performance, the
collaboration between the Russian outfit and the Swedish crew can only grow
further. "We really want to do the Production Championship again next year
together with the Russian team and this car".

Patrik started the rally cautiously after finding the icy road conditions really
treacherous during the reconnaissance. However, his carefully measured pace was
more than enough to keep second position during the first day and to push the
leading driver. He continued the attack on Saturday morning, rapidly closing on to
the leader. It soon paid off as he inherited the lead after the crew ahead had hit
problems. Patrik resisted the pressure from other hard-charging drivers and kept
his twenty seconds advantage throughout the day. Impressively he increased it up
to forty seconds after just the Sunday's first stage. But all the crew's efforts were
taken away when they made a mistake on the next speed test, and with two stages
to go only one second separated them from their main rival. In addition, during the
afternoon service they found some problems with the centre differential and a front
damper. However, the URT team's mechanics sorted out everything, and
eventually Patrik overcame all the difficulties to finish the penultimate speed test
over ten seconds ahead of his rival. The last SS saw even more drama, as the
chaser retired with a broken engine, while Patrik and Goran took another stage
victory and the rally's laurels as well. "I'm enormously happy! We had only one
real problem when a pipe on the left rear brake got damaged on a road section, but
we managed to fix it in time and finish the rally. It's a perfect team, and this is a
great car! "

Both Patrik and Goran were happy to give the new Impreza its first victory on a
WRC event. But despite the success it was a very difficult rally for both the crew
and their team, whom Patrik called "the real professionals". But neither mud nor
ice, which made the roads particularly slippery, could prevent the Swedish stars
from outpacing other crews, including title contenders. "I really enjoyed the fight.
And it was one of the most important victories for me, so I want to thank the URT
team and the TEIN suspension specialists for providing me with such an
opportunity".